Ether Flow

Ether C Flow is designed, built and tested in San Diego, CA, and offers a 2-year warranty for parts and labor.

It includes a DUM (Distinctly Un-Magical) cable with the termination of your choice and a backpack-friendly hard-shell carrying case.

NOTE: ETHER C Flow will sport a new carbon fiber pattern. While ETHER C has diagonal lines in the carbon weave, ETHER C Flow will have a checkerboard pattern so the headphones may be easily distinguished.

Technology

All the ETHER headphones are V-Planar driver and all ETHER Flow headphones incorporate TrueFlow waveguides. V-Planar technology pleats the driver surface so as to reduce distortion, improve transient response, and extend the frequency range.

TrueFlow Motor Optimization

All planar magnetic drivers utilize magnets in their motors. These magnets create right-angles audio waves must pass, creating turbulence in the audio waveform that masks lower level details. Simply stated, TrueFlow technology fills in the area between magnets with perforated material so the driver is moving air through a flat, perforated surface free from right angles. The result is a remarkable increase in resolution and dynamics, and extended frequency response.

Innovations in the ETHER headphone

Ether Flow utilizes an all-new design that makes use of several technology and manufacturing innovations to improve performance. ETHER is built around a single-ended planar driver developed by MrSpeakers. To optimize performance, the planar has been processed using a patent-pending V-Planar technology.

NiTinol Headband

ETHER also uses a NiTinol "memory metal" headband to reduce weight and improve comfort. NiTinol is Nickel-Titanium alloy that is heat-treated to a geometry we set that's ideally mated to our ear-ads to deliver a quality seal with minimal pressure.

V-Planar Driver Processing

Simply stated, a conventional planar driver is usually assumed to move as a flat surface. In reality, this is not possible as the driver substrate is inelastic and “locked” at the boundaries so the driver will move more as an arced surface then a flat plane, as conceptually illustrated in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1: Conventional Driver Motion

Over the years, different approaches have been developed to address nonlinear planar motion and the artifacts it can cause. Fostex patented their RP technology, used on all their drivers used in our headphones, to reduce panel nonlinearities. Another approach, known as knurling, was patented in 1997 by Bruce Thigpen, founder of Eminent-Technology and pioneer of numerous planar magnetic speaker technologies.

MrSpeakers' felt it would be possible to improve on the solutions available to date, so we collaborated with Bruce to develop V-Planar knurling technique (we filed for a patent with Bruce as a co-inventor). In simplified form, V-Planar technology addresses nonlinear driver motion by more deeply creasing the diaphragm to increase compliance. Much as pleats allow an accordion to expand and contract without stretching the fabric, the creases in the driver "open" slightly during larger excursions as illustrated in Figure 2. When the driver is processed, the resultant peaks and troughs are deep enough to maintain more of their physical structure even after the driver has been tensioned.

FIGURE 2: V-Planar Driver Motion

Increasing the driver compliance allows it to behave as a more idealized planar surface and also improves it's acceleration. With more of the driver surface in linear motion, V-Planar can not only push more air at low frequencies, but with greater acceleration also delivers better dynamics, high-end frequency response, and measurably lower distortion. The Sound MrSpeakers' is committed to is simply magical sound. They are trying to avoid too much "marketing speak," and deliberately avoiding a lot of prose and to simply say they love the sound of their drivers' post V-Planar processing. They do sound more natural and engaging to us as well.

Sound

ETHER headphones are not about having the best bass, mids, or highs. They're about delivering a convincing sound experience. The goal is to NOT emphasize any part of the spectrum, but rather to have it blend together to form an organic whole.

Comfort

ETHER headphones are renowned for their fit. With a nearly ideal weight distribution and plush Italian lamb-leather ear pads, they can be worn for hours without fatigue. ETHER headphones won't move around on your head with normal usage, but neither will they leave your jaw and ears aching from clamping force, truly they're a headphone you can enjoy for hours at a time.

Style

ETHER is constructed entirely of metal for improved durability and sound quality, yet it is extremely light and comfortable. The team worked overtime to cut weight without sacrificing performance. Now you truly get it both: bulletproof construction and comfort.

In an innovative industry-first we created a NiTinol "memory metal" headband that is super-light and ultra-cool. It delivers just the right level of clamp and is remarkably tough and reliable.

Manuals and Guides

Specs

Model

ETHER Flow 1.1

Driver Type

Planar Magnetic

Driver Size

71x45mm

Impedance

23 ohms

Weight

385 gr

Ear Pad Material

NAPA Lamb Leather

Shipping Dimensions

11x9x6 inches

Shipping Weight

3 lb

Frequency Response

Yes*

*Too many vendors publish specifications that are wildly inconsistent with actual performance to win "numbers games." We don't play that game.